Ryanair recently continued its wave of OTA booking partnerships with a deal with SAP Concur Travel – thus widening its reach to the corporate and business travel market.
The move makes Ryanair flights available for corporate travellers to book via the newly updated version of the Concur Travel platform. Business passengers will benefit from significant efficiencies and the convenience of their booking details being fed into SAP Concur solutions, reducing any unnecessary administration hold-ups.
They also won’t have to complete Ryanair’s Customer Verification making their business travel experience even more seamless.
ITTN’s Geoff Percival sat down with Ryanair Chief Marketing Officer, Dara Brady, to learn more…
- How does the Concur Travel partnership differ from Ryanair’s previous OTA announcements this year?
This partnership is great news for the business travel world as corporate travellers will now be able to access Ryanair’s low fares and industry leading network of key city connections across Europe (240 airports) with regular morning and evening flights, conveniently through a direct connect with Concur Travel, giving them more choice and flexibility for their business trips. SAP Concur serves the B2B travel market, whereas our “Approved OTA” partners primarily serve the B2C travel market, offering package holidays, virtual interlining, etc., which customers can now bundle with a Ryanair flight without the fear of harmful mark-ups, which only a few remaining outlier OTAs continue to charge consumers.
- In what ways can this partnership improve corporate travel booking processes across Europe?
As a result of our partnership with SAP Concur, corporate customers who book Ryanair flights directly through the new Concur Travel platform will benefit from significant efficiencies and the convenience of their booking details being fed into SAP Concur solutions, reducing any unnecessary admin. They also won’t have to complete Ryanair’s Customer Verification making their business travel experience even more seamless.
- What are the benefits of such an announcement to companies looking to improve their corporate travel booking systems?
This partnership means that corporates can now book Ryanair for their business trips via the new Concur Travel platform, benefitting from our industry leading low fares as well as our extensive network of key city connections. We currently operate to/from approximately 240 Airport across Europe, with our schedules geared to provide regular morning and evening connections, catering for corporate travellers attending meetings, conferences, etc. The corporate travel process will of course gain from our unrivalled on-time performance, making sure corporate travellers make their meetings and events on time, but will also benefit from the efficiencies and convenience of their booking details being fed into SAP Concur solutions, reducing any unnecessary admin.
- How does this deal benefit Ryanair?
This partnership further opens us up to the corporate travel world – a market which is rapidly recovering post-Covid – helping us to enhance our existing customer base.
- Is Ryanair unique in agreeing such a partnership with Concur Travel or is it one of many direct airline partners of the platform?
This is the first partnership of its kind for Ryanair. We have 14 “Approved OTA” agreements in place, which cater for the B2C audience. We are pleased to integrate directly with Concur Travel, on this truly ground-breaking new agreement for the B2B audience.
- Does this deal help SMEs as much as it will larger corporations who may have bigger booking demands?
This partnership substantially benefits all business customers using SAP Concur’s new travel platform, including SMEs who will now be able to book Ryanair industry leading low fares with the added benefit of the admin work being done automatically through integration with SAP Concur solutions – saving both time and money.
- Will this change the perception of Ryanair among corporate travellers or is there already an acceptance in mainland Europe?
We already have a strong business travel customer base due to our unrivalled network (240 airports), industry-leading low fares, and unbeatable on-time performance. Ryanair is the most efficient airline in Europe, and efficient low-fare travel is what business travellers tend to seek. What this partnership does though, is further enhances our access to the corporate travel world, as it continues to recover and flourish post-Covid.
